Ok, now I'm confused. I definitely remember posting that this had been
proved a while back. Did it get unproved?
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LONDON (AP) -- Two publishers are offering a million dollars to anyone who
can prove that all even numbers are the sum of two prime numbers.
No one has cracked the problem in the more than 250 years since it was
first posed, and Friday's announcement indicated the publishers aren't too
worried about having to pay up.
The theory, known as Goldbach's Conjecture, was suggested by the Prussian
mathematician Christian Goldbach in 1742.
It's easy enough to think of an even number that is the sum of two prime
numbers -- those which cannot be divided evenly by any number except
themselves. For instance, 5 plus 7 equals 12, or 67 plus 3 equals 70. But
so far it has been impossible to prove that it works for every imaginable
even number.
Faber and Faber, in conjunction with Bloomsbury Publishing in the United
States, announced the challenge Friday to promote the upcoming release of
``Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture,'' by Apostolos Doxiadis.
``Proving it may well be impossible,'' the publishers said, ``and it is
very probable that only a highly skilled mathematician would ever be able
to produce a proof that meets the requirements of these rules.''
The publishers set a deadline of March 15, 2002.
To claim the prize, the winner would have to have the solution accepted
for publication by a reputable mathematical journal, and then have the
proof confirmed by at least four members of a six-judge panel appointed by
Faber and Faber.
However, you don't have to buy a copy of ``Uncle Petros'' to compete, the
publishers said.
``By offering this challenge, neither Faber and Faber Limited nor
Bloomsbury Publishing are representing or warranting that the validity of
Goldbach's Conjecture is capable of proof in the general case,'' the
publishers said.
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Eric Michael Cordian 0+
O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
